Monday, July 22, 2019

“[T]hey were dead serious, and then I was like, ‘Oh my God.’It’s like calling the VaticanChurch Joey.”

Below is more recent history about the Gulfstream Hotel in the City of Lake Worth many of you will find drop dead hilarious. And many long-time residents will recall a name or five from an old newspaper clipping published in the Post thirteen years ago. This clipping had to be cut and pasted the old-fashioned way for this blog because the news article in print spanned recto with five very short columns above the fold.

You’ll also note the spelling, “GulfStream” with a capital ‘S’ as some liked to title this famous landmark. The historic name for the hotel was ‘Gulf Stream’ (two words) and blended over time into one (called a portmanteau). The current and most commonly accepted usage is “Gulfstream” with a lowercase ‘s’.

And it did not go unnoticed recently when an elected leader on the Lake Worth City Commission referred to the City’s Historic Resource Preservation Board as the “Hysterical Board”. What followed was a lot of rolling eyes and some chuckles too. When one is elected and then re-elected four times one is entitled to a good old joke now and then. Moving on!

Without further ado. . .

Hope you enjoy this blog post about“Frank discussions”.

Take special note of the date,December 23, 2005:

“Frank” as in Frank Zappa? Frank Sinatra?Or other famous “Franks”?

Column one under banner headline.

Click on image to enlarge:

CSC Lake Worth was the developer that owned the Gulfstream in 2005. The Great Recession began in 2007 and the rest is history as they say.

And the balance of the article by staff writerTanya Wragg continues. . .

“At first I thought it was a joke,” board member Phillip Spinelli said Thursday. “Then they were dead serious, and then I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ It’s like calling the Vatican Church Joey.” Spinelli, who said he otherwise thought the project was “a great idea,” added: “That may be OK in South Beach or downtown Clematis with a brand-new hotel of something, but this is the GulfStream. It’s a historic building.” During the meeting, which lasted more than five hours, CSC Lake Worth, which paid $13 million for the hotel in July [2005], asked the board to approve modifications to the 1925 structure. They include adding French doors and balconettes, reducing its units from 160 to 90, and demolishing three adjacent buildings. Hotel Frank would be a tribute to famous “Franks”, such as Frank Zappa, Frank Sinatra and comedian Frank Miller, said CSC Lake Worth President Adam Schlesinger, adding his attorney, former CRA board member Frank Palen, to the list. “Frank is such a great name and so many great people in American history have been named Frank. It’s (Lake Worth) a city that is receptive and warm to everybody,” Schlesinger said Thursday. Board member Jon MacGillis said he would have liked an emphasis on The GulfStream, rather than Hotel Frank. “The applicant did stand up and give a good explanation behind Frank,” he said Thursday. “Some board members were concerned that maybe residents would be offended by taking out the GulfStream name. It’s a new hip idea and concept they’re trying to float to attract a new type of clientele they see is in that area.” The announcement was made at an otherwise empty meeting, which only a handful of residents attended. The city might have seen more had the locals Schlesinger said he planned to pay to speak for his project showed up. Schlesinger on Wednesday confirmed reports he planned to hire local actors to talk for the project meeting. He said he went through an advertising agency to look for extras. He planned to show them the project. Then, if they were in favor of it, he’d pay them to support him at the meeting, he said. “We just want to get as many permanent residents as excited as we are,” he said. The historic board approved many of CSC Lake Worth’s modification requests, but deferred voting on the demolitions until February. Sharon Jackson, the city’s community redevelopment director, said the preservation board may negotiate on the name with CSC, which does not need the board’s approval for the name.

Thank You for visiting today and on amore serious and somber note. . .

Excerpt from a Letter to Editor in The Palm Beach Post dated April 4th, 1994 written by “Wes Blackman”:

“It [the Pennsylvania Hotel] is one of the few remaining structures from the city’s glorious but fading past.”

Click on image to enlarge:

Gulfstream Hotel in the City of Lake Worth,the Pennsylvania Hotel, and the Belleview Biltmore in Belleair: What history teaches us about historic preservation.